Manual

Main User Interface Using the Keyboard

# Using the Keyboard

Input from the keyboard (i.e. mouseless operation) is supported for quick access to menu operations. In an active uDraw(Graph) base window, there are two different ways to invoke menu operations with the keyboard instead of using the mouse: mnemonics and accelerators. All menus have mnemonics, but accelerators are only available for the most frequently used menus. How to activate a window depends on the window manager and window system you use.

On this page, the default menu settings are displayed. An application connected to the API is able to reconfigure the whole user interface of uDraw(Graph), especially the content and order of menus, the mnemonics and the available accelerators. Refer to user interface configuration for details. So if you are working with an application, the following descriptions may not apply to you.

A mnemonic is the underlined character of each menu. For example, menu "File" has an underlined mnemonic F. The menu entry 'Open...' in the "File" menu has mnemonic O. So, to open a new graph, you can use the shortcut ALT+F O in a base window instead of selecting menu "File/Open..." with the mouse. ALT+F O means: Press the ALT and f key simultaneously, then release both keys and press o. Do not use upper case F and O with the SHIFT-key! So the ALT-key is only used to open a menu, ALT is not needed for the entries in a menu.

Keys to access menus
ALT+F: | Open "File" Menu.
ALT+E | Open "Edit" Menu.
ALT+V | Open "View" Menu.
ALT+N | Open "Navigation" Menu.
ALT+A | Open "Abstraction" Menu.
ALT+L | Open "Layout" Menu.
ALT+O | Open "Options" Menu.
ALT+H | Open "Help" Menu.
F10 | Open first menu ("File" Menu).
ESCAPE | Close menu (cancel).
Cursor keys | Browse through menus.
RETURN | Select current menu item.

Some frequently used menu operations have an additional accelerator key which calls the particular function immediately without going through the menus. E.g. to open a file, press the CTRL-key and the o-key (lower case!) simultaneously.

Accelerator keys to access menus
CTRL+O | Open a graph or status file
CTRL+S | Save a graph or status file
CTRL+P | Print a graph
CTRL+E | Export a graph
CTRL+C | Close a base window
CTRL+X | Exit uDraw(Graph)
CTRL+N | Open New View to a graph
CTRL+L | Full Scale
CTRL+T | Fit Scale to Window
CTRL+F | Find a node
CTRL+A | Find Again
CTRL+I | Improve All, start layout algorithm

The navigation functions for graph browsing, usually available in the Navigation/Navigator... dialog, can also be accessed directly from the keyboard using the cursor keys:

Cursor keys to navigate in a graph
CursorLeft | Go to left neighbour node
CursorRight | Go to right neighbour node
CursorUp | Go to nearest node at previous level
CursorDown | Go to nearest node at next level
SHIFT+CursorLeft | Go to nearest sibling node to the left
SHIFT+CursorRight | Go to nearest sibling node to the right
SHIFT+CursorUp | Go to nearest parent node
SHIFT+CursorDown | Go to nearest child node
PageUp | Scroll upwards
PageDown | Scroll downwards